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Introduction

The first performance of Handel’s Ottone took place in London on 12 January 1723 at the King’s Theatre. Handel had finished composing the opera the previous summer, with the first draft completed on 10 August, but he had to make several revisions before the first performance took place. The problems lay with his all-star cast, several of whom professed themselves unhappy with the nature and character of their roles. Handel had been fortunate to engage the services of several fine Italian singers to work for the Royal Academy of Music, which had been promoting Italian opera in London since 1720, and his cast for Ottone in 1723 contained three of these—the soprano Margherita Durastanti as Gismonda, the famous alto castrato Senesino in the title role, and the bass Giuseppe Boschi, alongside the English contralto Anastasia Robinson (playing Matilda), the alto castrato Gaetano Berenstatt as Adelberto and, as the princess Teofane, the latest young star from Italy, the soprano Francesca Cuzzoni.

Handel’s text was adapted by Nicolo Haym from the libretto that Stefano Pallavicino had written for the Dresden performances of Lotti’s Teofane in 1719. This commission had celebrated the marriage of the Electoral Prince Frederick Augustus of Saxony to the Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria. Pallavicino had in turn based his plot on the true story of an earlier royal marriage, that of Otto II of Germany to the Eastern Princess Theofano, which had taken place in Rome in 972. To this he added, for good measure, the suppression of Berengar’s attempt to usurp Otto’s throne in 950 (aided by Berengar’s wife Willa—transformed in the new plot into Gismonda) and the succession of Basil II to the throne of the Eastern Empire in 976. The disguise of Basilio in the opera as the brigand Emireno is Pallavicino’s own invention.

Mrs Robinson was unhappy with the role she was given, complaining that ‘it in no way suits my capacity’, and used the Modenese ambassador Giuseppe Riva to get through to Handel. The quiet approach seems to have worked, for the composer replaced two of her arias to provide a softer side to her character. Cuzzoni was making her debut in London, and she clearly intended to show her dazzling qualities. She had a good advance press too, as The London Journal of 27 October 1722 promised:

There is a new Opera now in Rehearsal at the Theatre in the Hay-Market, a Part of which is reserv’d for one Mrs. Cotsona, an extraordinary Italian Lady, who is expected daily from Italy. It is said, she has a much finer Voice and more accurate Judgment, than any of her Country Women who have performed on the English Stage.

Cuzzoni’s voice was clearly better than her looks, for the diva was described by Horace Walpole as ‘short and squat, with a doughy cross face’! But the character of Teofane is a sad, mostly melancholic one and, when she finally arrived in Britain, Cuzzoni told Handel she would have none of this, as Mainwaring later recounted:

Having one day some words with CUZZONI on her refusing to sing Falsa imagine in OTTONE: Oh! Madame, (said he) je sçais bien que Vous êtes une véritable Diablesse: mais je Vous ferai sçavoir, moi, que je suis Beelzebub le Chéf des Diables. With this he took her up by the waist, and, if she made any more words, swore that he would fling her out of the window.

Suffice it to say that Handel, despite his well documented dictatorial treatment of his musicians in rehearsal, did not eject his leading lady by this novel means, and his judgement in retaining the aria was proved correct, for ‘Falsa imagine’ became the hit of the season. Indeed, Ottone became one of the most popular operas of Handel’s career, with 34 known performances during his lifetime, beaten only by the 53 performances of Rinaldo. London went opera mad, and De Fabrice wrote that ‘there is such a run on it that tickets are already being sold at 2 and 3 guineas which are ordinarily half a guinea, so that it is like another Mississippi or South Sea Bubble’. Gay wrote to Jonathan Swift on 3 February that ‘folks, that could not distinguish one tune from another, now daily dispute about the different styles of Handel, Bononcini, and Attilio’ and that ‘Senesino is daily voted to be the greatest man that ever lived’. Even the Footmen’s Gallery (from where the rich patrons’ staff were able to watch) was caught up in the enthusiasm, and threats had to be made by the theatre management that ‘The next Time any Disorder is made there, the Gallery will be shut up’. Barracking seems to have had a rather genteel tone in those days, for one report mentions a cry of ‘Damn her! she has got a nest of nightingales in her belly!’.

Despite Cuzzoni’s high fee of £1500, double the original estimate by the Duke of Portland for the Academy, the season made a profit, and shareholders were paid a dividend of 7%. The next year Handel was able to move to Brook Street, where he lived for the rest of his life, and after its initial run of fourteen performances the opera was revived for six more in December 1723, eight in 1726, two in 1727 and seven in 1733. As ever, for these revivals he added and replaced arias as he became familiar with new singers or had to re-cast (in 1726 Matilda became a soprano and Gismonda a contralto): Robert King’s performing version follows the score heard in January 1723 at the Haymarket Theatre.

Handel’s orchestral scoring for Ottone was quite modest, especially if we look to the exotic instrumental colours and on-stage band of Julius Caesar the next year. But the simplicity of scoring (just strings, oboes and bassoon, with recorders in Ottone’s wonderful nocturnal ‘Deh! non dir’) allowed the composer to concentrate on melodic grace, rather than crowd-pleasing fireworks.

The Argument from Haym’s original 1723 librettoOtho, Son to the Emperor Otho the Great, being sent by his Father into Italy, got there Several Victories, not only over the Grecians, who, at that time, contended with the Germans for the Possession of it; but likewise over the Saracens, who continually infested the Sea Coasts. The former being forced into a Peace, he obtained Theophane, Daughter to Romano, Emperor of the East, who long before had been promised him for his Bride. Basilio was Brother to Theophane, who being drove out of Constantinople, by the Tyrant Nicephoro, liv’d so long in Exile, till he was call’d in by Zemisces, to have a part in the Empire. It is suppos’d that this Prince, during his Exile, should turn Pirate, taking the Name of Emireno; and being ignorant of what past in Constantinople, should chace the Ships which brought Theophane to Rome, and should be overcome by those of Otho as he went to meet his Bride. It is likewise suppos’d, that Adelberto, Son to Berengario, a Tyrant in Italy, by the instigation of his Mother, here called Gismonda, should cause Rome to rebel against the Germans, who were not long e’er they retook it: This Action here attributed to the Second Otho, in History, is reckoned among those of Otho the Great. It is also a Fiction, that Theophane should fall in the power of Adelberto, and that he should see her and fall in Love with her at the Time he was incognito in Constantinople. This occasions the greatest part of the Accidents which are seen in this Drama.

Synopsis and Commentary—Act I Prince Adelberto, thanks to his mother Gismonda’s scheming, is about to assume the throne of Italy. Ottone, king of Germany, is on his way to Rome to dispute Adelberto’s claim, but has been delayed by the pirate Emireno in a fierce battle. Ottone has been promised the hand of the Princess Teofane as the spoil of a previous victory, and she has arranged to meet him, for the first time, in Rome. But Teofane, already in Rome, has only a small portrait to tell her what Ottone looks like.

After the three-section Overture (a serious, dotted French opening, followed by a fugal section and a gently lilting Gavotte) Gismonda, in ‘Pur che regni il figlio amato’, is full of ambition for her son Adelberto, wishing only that he can reign securely. The aria is dominated by a menacing, rising unison figure in the orchestra. Gismonda persuades Adelberto to present himself to Teofane, impersonating Ottone, and he assures his mother that Teofane will not recognize him. In Gismonda’s aria ‘La speranza è giunta in porto’ she expresses her delight that her plans are about to come to pass.

Adelberto welcomes Teofane. She is horrified by the discrepancy between the portrait in her locket and the person she actually sees before her: she wonders why she came all this way. Adelberto quickly proposes marriage as if he were Ottone and sings of his hopes in the touching aria ‘Bel labbro, formato’: the high sustained string accompaniment and the rich scoring of the ritornello (with bassoon high in its tenor register) add poignancy to a beautiful number. Teofane is confused and extremely upset: when finally alone she blames the portrait for deceiving her. Her aria ‘Falsa imagine’ (which had caused such strife in rehearsal) is accompanied only by the continuo section, with the strings reserved for the final playout: its simplicity and memorable melody were, as so often is the case in Handel, the reasons for its huge success.

The mood is broken by a lively instrumental sinfonia, full of rushing string passage work and breaks for the woodwind, as the real Ottone arrives, having defeated and captured the pirate Emireno. The movement proved extremely popular, becoming widely known as ‘The Concerto in Ottone’: Handel later re-used it at the start of his Concerto Grosso Op 3 No 6. Emireno hints that he is really someone more important but refuses to tell Ottone who he actually is. In the blustering aria ‘Del minacciar del vento’ (not so dissimilar to Polyphemus’s famous aria in Acis and Galatea) the orchestra imitates wind and storms in music of great character. Ottone sends Emireno to prison and turns his thoughts towards Teofane and his new kingdom but is interrupted by his fearsome cousin Matilda. Matilda tells Ottone of Gismonda’s scheming, of Adelberto’s designs on Teofane, and that she, Matilda, is already betrothed to Adelberto. In the melancholic aria ‘Ritorna, o dolce amore’ Ottone yearns for Teofane.

Matilda, alone, resolves revenge on Adelberto for breaking his word. In the outer sections of ‘Diresti poi così’ she asks herself if she could speak kindly to Adelberto, but in the contrasting, lively middle section she speaks of the rage to which a woman’s heart can quickly turn.

Gismonda is now posing as Adelaide, Ottone’s mother, and is alone with Teofane. Teofane asks Gismonda questions about her supposed son, and receives answers which of course relate to Adelberto, not Ottone. In ‘Pensa ad amare’ Gismonda lectures Teofane that love demands more than mere duty from the heart. Teofane does not like Adelaide’s haughty manner. Adelberto presses ahead with his suit and leads Teofane to the marriage ceremony. Gismonda intrudes with the news of Ottone’s arrival in Rome, forcefully urging the reluctant Adelberto to take arms against him. Teofane, left alone and now realizing that Adelberto is an impostor, tells of her torment. Her aria ‘Affanni del pensier’ is one of the highlights of Act I, with its minor key, dropping chromaticism and intense suspensions creating music of powerful effect.

In the very short Sinfonia which follows, Ottone’s soldiers are represented in combat with Adelberto’s troops: Ottone captures Adelberto who remains defiant in defeat. In ‘Tu puoi straziarmi’ the repeated orchestral figurations give greater emphasis to the captured prince’s protestations. Although Ottone has still not yet found Teofane, he ends the Act optimistically, declaring peace and goodwill to all parties and looking forward to both kingship and marriage. ‘Dell’onda ai fieri’ would have ensured that eighteenth-century audiences went out to the bar in fine spirits!

Act II Adelberto meets Matilda on his way to prison and she reproaches him for wooing her when he loved Teofane. Gismonda takes Adelberto to task for losing the battle with Ottone. Matilda orders Adelberto to prison, but is secretly touched by pity for him. In his aria ‘Lascia, che nel suo viso’ Adelberto asks that he should learn constancy from Matilda before he is parted from her: the simplicity of the music makes his plea all the more moving.

Matilda and Gismonda, alone together, vent their anguish over Adelberto’s fate. Matilda suggests pleading Ottone for mercy on Adelberto’s behalf. The proud Gismonda prefers death for herself and her son, but in ‘Ah! tu non sai’ Matilda insists she will be content only with Adelberto’s freedom. When alone, Gismonda reveals that she too feels compassion: her aria ‘Vieni, o figlio’ is a gem (its key and mood looking forward to ‘I know that my redeemer liveth’), its melody again proving that the simplest tunes are the often the best.

Ottone and Teofane are about to meet at last, each fairly certain that they know who the other is, when Matilda intrudes and throws herself at Ottone’s feet, pleading on behalf of Adelberto. Teofane hides and watches as Ottone, though refusing the plea for clemency, embraces Matilda in pity. Matilda is furious at Ottone and sings a stormy aria, ‘All’orror d’un duolo’, summoning thunderbolts and monsters.

Teofane has completely misconstrued the previous scene and accuses Ottone of infidelity with Matilda. He retorts by accusing her of giving her hand in marriage to Adelberto. In ‘Alla fama, dimmi il vero’ Teofane suggests that Ottone is no longer in love with her. Privately, Ottone cannot understand her reaction and wonders who has caused her to turn against him. In ‘Dopo l’orrore’ he hopes that calm will return after the storm in marvellously Handelian vocal figurations and a splendid orchestral accompaniment. Here was another hit aria for Senesino and Handel’s audiences!

Teofane, alone, asks the god of love for pity, and in her accompagnato ‘O grati orrori’ Handel uses the sustained string parts to great effect to enhance the sense of total abandonment and isolation. Teofane’s aria ‘S’io dir potessi’ sighs with sadness and suffering.

Emireno and Adelberto have escaped from prison through the underground passage, thanks to a map sent to them by Matilda. She has also informed them that a boat awaits them. Emireno sings a jaunty aria ‘Le profonde vie dell’ onde’, asking heaven to allow him freedom again, and vowing to avenge the wrongdoings he has suffered.

Emireno goes searching for the boat. Matilda and Ottone arrive separately, Matilda looking for the entrance to the tunnel and Ottone searching for Teofane. Adelberto hides at the tunnel entrance when he realizes that others are in the garden. He recognizes Ottone and then Teofane. Teofane recognizes Matilda’s voice and sees Ottone. Matilda and Ottone meet: Teofane eavesdrops. She hides in the tunnel entrance, uncomfortably, near Adelberto. Matilda dissuades Ottone from going near the tunnel entrance for fear that the escape might be foiled and her part in it discovered by Ottone. She leads him away. Ottone’s aria ‘Deh! non dir’ is another jewel, with the muted strings and recorders mimicking nocturnal bird calls and engaging in charming dialogue with the soloist.

Emireno returns, having found the boat and some of his men. Adelberto seizes the fainting Teofane and puts her into the boat. They row away. Gismonda sees the departure and meets the returning Matilda. Together they celebrate the success of their plan, though Matilda harbours apprehension over her deceit of Ottone. Neither is aware of Teofane’s abduction. In the delightful duet ‘Notte cara’ they praise the fact that night has enabled them to carry out their plans. The writing finds similarities with several of the earlier Italian duets in the rhythmically moving bass line and vocal suspensions: the two women end the act optimistically.

Act III Ottone laments Teofane’s disappearance in ‘Dove sei?’, surprisingly short in the 1723 version, but rich in its harmony and suffused with melancholy. Gismonda taunts Ottone about the escape of Adelberto and Emireno with Teofane, even though she knows that she will be sentenced to death. In her aria ‘Trema, tiranno’ Gismonda gloats, the wild string arpeggios giving greater emphasis to her triumphant cries.

Ottone is utterly desolate, and in the accompagnato ‘Io son tradito’ and the aria ‘Tanti affanni’ muses over his desertion and betrayal by everyone. Here we have Handel at his most intense: the key, F minor, is already flat, but the music modulates further into some of the most extreme keys in the whole baroque repertoire.

The boat and the three escapees have been unable to get very far due to a storm. Emireno suggests that they wait until the weather improves and says that he will stand guard over Teofane. In the glorious aria ‘D’innalzar i flutti’ Handel is at his most melodic, with Adelberto’s delicate line accompanied by exquisite string figurations. Adelberto hopes not only that the weather will calm but that love too will brighten for him with Teofane.

Adelberto goes in search of shelter from the storm and Teofane tells Emireno that she is the daughter of Romano, King of Byzantium. Emireno goes to embrace her, because he is in fact her brother, Prince Basilio. This attempted embrace too gives her the wrong idea, for she believes he is attempting to seduce her. Adelberto returns at the most inopportune moment and makes the same presumption. Adelberto jealously attacks Emireno, but is overpowered by him and placed under guard. In the aria ‘Nò, non temere’ Emireno assures Teofane that she has nothing to fear.

Teofane reflects on her fate, and invites Emireno’s guard to kill her. Even though Ottone might be in Matilda’s arms she says she will never be unfaithful to him. She is still unaware of Emireno’s true identity and mistrustful of his motives. In the aria ‘Benchè mi sia crudele’ Handel gave his star Cuzzoni an especially good chance to show off her lyrical qualities.

Matilda tells Ottone that Teofane has been taken by Adelberto. Gismonda is exultant at her son’s deed, but Matilda turns on her, telling her that when Adelberto’s head is thrown at her feet her mood will change. Gismonda responds by reporting Matilda’s part in the escape to Ottone. He becomes even more despairing that even his closest allies and family are betraying him, but in ‘Nel suo sangue’ Matilda repents and vows to recapture Adelberto to wash the guilt from her heart. In a marvellously characterful aria, threatening terrible vengeance, she sings that she does not mind if she kills him.

Suddenly Emireno arrives with Adelberto as his prisoner. Ottone orders Adelberto’s death at the hands of Emireno’s men but Matilda demands the right to stab him herself. However, Adelberto’s confession causes her to stop, and once again she takes pity on him. Gismonda seizes the dagger and tries to kill herself. Teofane arrives before Gismonda has time to commit the deed: Ottone and Teofane are finally united, and celebrate with the delicious duet ‘A’ teneri affetti’.

The last strands of the plot are unravelled as Teofane explains that Emireno is really her brother Basilio. Ottone finally realizes what has happened, Gismonda and Adelberto swear loyalty to their king, while Matilda again frees Adelberto and accepts his hand in marriage. The final chorus, a light minuet ‘Faccia ritorno l’antica pace’ (very similar to ‘Galatea dry thy tears’) dancingly brings back peace: love finally vanquishes treachery.

This is a most welcome reissue for a legendary artist—the British countertenor James Bowman singing at the height of his powers. In this much-praised recording, Bowman is joined by The King’s Consort to perform a selection of Handel’s best-loved o ...» More

ADALBERT Who can be happier than I?
At the very moment when your great heart, oh
mother, dares to place me again on the throne of
Italy, the lovely Theophano is brought here by fate
into my power; and in a single day I deprive my
enemy Otto of both Rome and a bride.

GISMONDA Be glad, Adalbert, to hold down,
despite the German, the throne of Berengar;
and be glad that fortune’s favour serves our revenge
in so many ways, showing itself propitious to your desire.

ADALBERT Let the idea of possessing her prevail in me today
over all other pleasure.

GISMONDA Did she ever see you when, unrecognized,
you were at her father’s court?

ADALBERT Never, or only among a crowd of courtiers.

GISMONDA Then get ready to pretend to her that you are Otto.

ADALBERT And, as him, to become her husband.
She believes him to be in Rome; and, escaping the perils
of the sea, she is ensnared by my love.

GISMONDA Otto is positioned not far from here,
and if the report brought to us is true a bitter fight has taken
place between his and those of Emirenus; and the fierce engagement
with the pirate has prevented him
from meeting his bride.

ADALBERT Mother, mother, she is coming.

GISMONDA I have not yet made ready the actions
and appearances for your deceit;
how much better it would be for you to use force!

ADALBERT Come, worthy daughter of Romanus, and turn
your gaze on me your husband. A second day
has risen in these skies at your appearance;
nor has the east ever offered Rome a gift of richer treasure.

THEOPHANO Sir, what I bring here is obedience and fidelity,
the dowry of a chaste bride.Looking at Adalbert’s face
(But … can this be Otto?)

ADALBERT Let the presiding genius of Italy spread the royal
marriage bed with roses; and let Hymen’s torch,
kindled by the light of your eyes, burn with bright flame.

THEOPHANO (Lying fame!)

ADALBERT I run to hasten the joyful celebrations.

THEOPHANO (Wretched me!) Some respite from great fear and
a long, dangerous voyage … (what shall I say?)

ADALBERT Already I hear Love chiding me for the delay.
Let the throne be the altar for our nuptials;
there let the rite be performed,
there let the eternal band be tied.

THEOPHANO Looking at the portrait
of Otto which she has in her bosom
(Unfaithful picture!)

THEOPHANO And is this Otto? This my husband? He whom
a lying painter depicted here as an adornment of my breast?
Where are those looks which made me ready to admire him?
Alas, I was sent so that a lasting peace might be established
between the German kingdom and the Grecian empire,
not so that a perpetual war should arise
between my inclination and my duty.
But … is this Otto? This my husband?
where, ah where is the majesty of his glance?
Frightened, trembling, what course can I take in my situation?

OTTO You, who dared to attack our ships, once the terror
of every sea and coast, I save as a gift to my royal father.

EMIRENUS How much greater would be your boast. Otto, if you
knew who your prisoner was, only in appearance a pirate.

OTTO Let us hear it.

EMIRENUS Oh no, it would swell too much your German
pride; let it be enough that at so young an age you
have taken the command of the seas from Emirenus.

OTTO And what if torture should drag your secret
from your mouth?

EMIRENUS Such threats to me?
You surely saw if my heart is capable of fear
when, in the midst of arrows and spears
I sought you out on your own ship, and you fell at my feet;
but you were saved from death by your hard coat,
the coat of mail with which prudent caution
habitually arms your chest and back.

OTTO Chains will subdue your proud spirit.
Away, for you will anger me if your insolent
speech continues, and in spurring me to be cruel
to those I have conquered,
partly blacken my victory.

EMIRENUS An ancient oak
mocks the threats of the wind,
when hundreds of times
it has withstood its gusts.
Despite the stoke of fortune,
I too hold high my head,
for I know that proud fate
cannot beat me down.

OTTO To more joyful matters now let my thoughts turn;
let them fly to Rome; there I am sure of finding Theophano.
Her ship, which in flight from Emirenus steered a course
to Antium, will by now have set down its precious burden;
to my bride, to my bride, to Rome, to Rome.

MATILDA To Rome, Otto, to Rome; but with a thunderbolt
in your hand with which to punish for his broken faith
the son of Berengar, heir of his father’s rebelliousness.

OTTO My cousin Matilda, what’s this you tell us?

MATILDA You had only just set sail from the mouth
of the Tiber to meet Theophano, when
haughty Gismonda with a daring plan armed her supporters
and proclaimed her son.

OTTO Then in Rome he …

MATILDA … usurps the titles and symbols
of royalty; let us go, sir,
and extinguish the pride of the Lombard rebel
before he can establish himself on the throne.

OTTO Rash Adalbert!

MATILDA I, who by the sworn treaty of peace
was soon to be the bride of the faithless man,
now scorned and despised,
demand vengeance and appeal to your mighty arm.

OTTO To his cost let the villain meet me fully armed …

MATILDA Some loyal to us were still holding the lower part
of the city. Lead your troops there, and entrust
a few warriors to me alone; let them seek another
way in. I shall be their leader and guide.

OTTO You will have a specially chosen unit;
and this, oh German amazon,
will not be the first of your exploits and accomplishments.

MATILDA Once a longing for glory, but now a desire for revenge
inspires me to take up arms.

OTTO Captains, I see you filled with anger,
and the occasion brooks no more delay;
meanwhile let more certain news be sought of her
with whom I share my kingdom and my thoughts.

MATILDA And yet I hoped, alas, that to my hand
would be granted the great glory of establishing peace;
but that perjurer Adalbert broke his word. If he were here
in my power, I, burning with righteous anger, would confront
him with a stern face, even if he were suppliant, saying:
‘Go, traitor, I will not hear you.’

MATILDA Would you speak thus to him?
or, moved by compassion,
rather seek to obtain life and liberty
for his faithless heart?
Yes, I would speak thus;
for it is well known that scorned love
turns to anger and cruelty
in the heart of a woman.

GISMONDA The mother of him who will very soon embrace
you as wife, you see before you.

THEOPHANO I did not know that the empress Adelaide
was in Rome.

GISMONDA You have a husband …

THEOPHANO (Oh heavens! one hateful to these unhappy eyes.)

GISMONDA … in the flower of his youth, illustrious
in blood and virtue, and for the victory
just gained over his enemies.

THEOPHANO I know that Otto, sent by his father to enforce
the rights of the empire, came down from the Alps;
and that proud Adalbert and haughty Gismonda
at the appearance of the imperial arms
were compelled to bow their necks to the conqueror.

GISMONDA (Unworthy woman!) Greece, ever a teller of tales,
has perhaps given you exaggerated accounts of Otto’s exploits.

THEOPHANO (And pretended he was more charming.)

GISMONDA You should know that Adalbert and Gismonda
have given heroic proofs of unfailing bravery, and that only
extreme power could rob them of the lofty Roman crown.

THEOPHANO You speak generously of your enemies.

GISMONDA Daughter-in-law (I should say enemy), I praise you
for so loyally taking the side of him who chose you for his bed.
May you always do so; and in you my son shall find
a loving wife, happy in his fortune and in his power.

THEOPHANO Does Adelaide, of whom reports give so much
praise, have such haughty manners? And is she leaving me?
Is she not going to escort me to the altar and the throne?
Wretched me, where am I?

ADALBERT With a calmer expression assure me, my dearest,
of my moment of joy.
What more? I show you the way to my royal throne;
I mount it first only to share it with you,
and there I expect the beautiful gift of your hand in marriage.
Give me your white hand.

GISMONDA Come back, come back …

ADALBERT What! Mother, do you forbid …

GISMONDA Ah, it is this, this that you must grasp.

She takes his sword

ADALBERT My sword?

GISMONDA This is no time for a wedding, soft-hearted lover;
as I correctly warned you, Otto is in Rome.

THEOPHANO Otto?

ADALBERT The people …

GISMONDA Changeable as ever, they are already cheering
your enemy, and at the first sight of his banners
they opened the gates to the German troops.

THEOPHANO What talk is this?

GISMONDA Listen to that noise; he is already at the palace.
May Berengar look down from heaven on his son Adalbert
in so great a danger.

THEOPHANO Amid a hundred doubts, only my fear is certain.

ADALBERT The care of Theophano …

GISMONDA Are you still inclined to amorous dalliance?
Otto is here; my son, you must conquer or die.

Adalbert takes his sword from Gismonda, and leaves with her

THEOPHANO Otto is here! Then who has left?
I do not understand you, strange mysteries of fate.
Abandoned and alone here, what shall I do? Where shall I go?
Now should I fly from this place, fatal to my
happiness: but where shall my sufferings find respite?

OTTO And is he still my rival?
Go, Henry, save the lives and possessions of the citizens
of this astonished land; to save the innocent, spare the guilty,
and let this be a day of joy, not war.
As soon as I have discharged here the offices of king,
permit me, Rome, to fulfil the duties of a loving husband,
and search for Theophano. Her image is all that is lacking
to brighten the glorious happiness of this day.

OTTO With his ship in harbour,
saved from the fierce motions of the waves,
the sailor utters vows
to some deity.
Thus, the kingdom having returned
to the bosom of lovely peace,
my spirit shall utter vows
to its beloved.

GISMONDA I a suppliant to Otto? Young woman, you would be
rash ever again to propose anything so unworthy of me …
sooner let my son lose his life,
than that Gismonda should sink to so vile a deed.
Well might I think it strange that good advice should
come to me from the mouth of an enemy.

GISMONDA With good reason Matilda
rebukes the arrogance of my sorrowful heart,
because she does not understand
what motherly affection I hide in my breast. Ah, if she could
see how much pain and suffering I endure in my heart
she would not say to me: ‘Is this your love, cruel woman?’
If, heaven, you will not help an unhappy mother,
at least lessen the grievous hurt within my soul.

MATILDA To the dread of unending grief
you condemn my love,
when I hoped for pity from you.
But if heaven denies a thunderbolt
to avenge my love,
from the depths of hell
I shall summon
furies and monsters to destroy you.

THEOPHANO Tell me the truth:
your thoughts put too much faith in hearsay
when it made me out to be beautiful;
now, looking at me closely,
you are saying to yourself:
she is not someone to make me
harbour a new passion in my heart,
unfaithful to another object.

EMIRENUS Allow me, heaven,
to sail again the deep ways of the oceans,
and let my name and my daring
once more fill the sea
and the coasts with fear.
And I shall make blood flow
in the watery element
to avenge my wrongs.

GISMONDA Tyrant, a cunning escape robs you of the prey whom
you, thirsty for blood, would have devoured in your heart.

OTTO Lady, what are you saying?

GISMONDA Ah, my delight in my son’s escape
would not be complete if I had not come myself
to provoke your anger and your spite.

OTTO Your son …

GISMONDA Yes, despite proud Otto he is already so far from
Rome that it would be useless to pursue him.

OTTO What! Adalbert escapes, and Gismonda
brings me the first news of it?

GISMONDA And because it comes from her, the news is certain;
you should know that Emirenus is saved with him. I rejoice
that it falls to me to wound your heart with such bitter news.

OTTO Your heart has become an abyss of furies.
How does the spirit of a captive dare to be so arrogant?

GISMONDA I know death is the punishment for my boldness;
let your hand, Otto, give it to me. And if return to the daylight
from the realms of Hades is denied me, your sleep shall still
not be untroubled. While my son lives he will plague you
with anxious doubts, and a thousand worries
and suspicions of plots and conspiracies will gnaw away at you.

OTTO I am betrayed; my enemy flees,
and is there no one to tell me about it, or to pursue him?
Ah, they have surely taken Theophano with them. Captains,
soldiers, does not even one of you rush to follow in their
footsteps? Shall they find the roads and gates open to escape?
Ungrateful princess, did the false Otto prevail so much
in your heart above the true one, that it was nothing to you
to leave an empire and throne to follow a vagabond?
Ah! too far away is the rebel with his prey,
oh ill-omened marriage, oh my shame, oh my grief!

Accompagnato: I have been betrayed; my enemy escapes unheeded.
Does no one attempt to capture him?
Ah! It has to be Teofane who has helped him.
Leaders, soldiers, is there no one who will track them down?
Not one that wants to capture them in their escape through the streets?

Ungrateful princess!
The fickle Ottone has manipulated your unquestioning
faith and persuaded you to follow a roamer.
And what of the empire and the throne?
Ah! To what lengths of theft and deceit will you go!
Ill matched by wedlock! O my jealousy, my sadness!

Aria: So many worries cloud my heart
that the sadness
cuts at my breathing.
I must find my treasure,
the one for whom I would die
but there is nothing I can do but hope.

By January 1723, when Ottone was premiered in the Haymarket theatre, London had been gripped by such opera fever that ‘folks that could not distinguish one tune from another, now daily dispute about the different styles of Handel, Bononcini and Attilio’. With a cast for Ottone containing Senesino, Durastanti and the latest attraction, the Italian soprano Cuzzoni, tickets were selling at up to six times the face price, and Handel had a winner on his hands. The success was due not only to such a strong cast, but also to the wealth of graceful melodies contained in arias of an unusual dramatic intensity. The Eastern princess Teofane arrives in a foreign country to marry a king she has never met and immediately finds herself helpless and alone in the midst of complex political intrigue: most of her arias are thus suffused with deep melancholy. Ottone, King of Germany, is for the most part an unflappable, rather dilettante monarch, but in Act 3 he unleashes the most intense expression of grief in the whole opera as he laments his continuing misfortunes and failure to wed his beloved Teofane. The accompanied recitative ‘Io son tradito’ is one of Handel’s finest, full of emotion and drama, and the aria 'Tanti affanni' which follows, one of his most desolate, marvellously written for the voice and strings, with a forlorn series of modulations in the middle section that takes the music through some of the most extreme keys Handel ever used.

ADALBERT Your lovely glance strikes more fear in me
than does the raging sea and sky.

EMIRENUS With the advance of the day, if I am, as usual, not
mistaken, the fury of the storm will abate. You to whom this
shore is known, seek out some fisherman’s cottage where we
can wait until the sea is seen to be amenable to our oars.
Fear not, I shall stand guard over this lady, your prey.

THEOPHANO Why did I come back to life?
Why did long anguish not have the power to kill me?

EMIRENUS Are you Theophano?

THEOPHANO I am Theophano.

EMIRENUS The daughter of Romanus?

THEOPHANO Yes, Romanus’s daughter.
If Otto does not punish this terrible crime,
he will punish it, he who rules the supreme throne of the East;
Basil, my brother, will punish it,
who if he lives will soon be sovereign.

EMIRENUS Oh, I may not know the affairs of Byzantium,
but I know that you are in the clutches of a tyrant.

THEOPHANO The usurper is overthrown. Zimisces holds the
crown in holy trust, acting as my tutor and father.

EMIRENUS And do you with your empty boasting
still claim a right over her?

ADALBERT Does an African just freed from his chains dare to
profane those lips for which many kings burn with desire?
This sword and your slaughter
will wrench you from her breast.

THEOPHANO Whoever wins, I’m the prize of a villain.

EMIRENUS Held prisoner by my arms,
you shall find nothing here to give you hope of escape;
you there, bring from the boat something to deprive him
of all thought of flight. You, keep guard
over the princess, then follow me with her.

THEOPHANO Yes, lead me to death, you evil men, for it is proper
that a royal maiden should die to avoid shameful assault.
I shall keep this body pure and unspotted for Otto;
for Otto, who perhaps at this very moment, in the arms
of another woman, is neglecting my safety and his honour.

THEOPHANO Although he is cruel to me,
although he is unfaithful to me,
my spirit, no,
will not be so unfaithful;
may the god of love
hear my complaints
and bring back to my heart
the loved one who betrayed it.

OTTO Dearest, I clasp you to my breast.
Truly you bring life wherever you go; and I’ll not forbid
these people having a part of that life which you bring
to my love; you, my beloved, are all I ask for.

THEOPHANO & OTTO Let us give our hearts
over to gentle affections;
let those who so rejoice
forgive past grief;
the memory of sorrows
seasons our delights;
those who have not experienced evil
do not know what is good.